Watching the U.S. Open last week, my husband fixated on the action, while I turned my attention to the sidelines: the notable spectators, their attire, and, was that new courtside furniture?

“Are those new chairs?” I ask DC.

“Maybe,” he shrugs, then adds with a laugh, “leave it to you to notice the furniture.”

The answer came in my inbox the next day, an email from Michael Graves Architecture & Design announcing the firm’s role in creating a redesigned “courtscape” to celebrate the U.S. Open’s 50th anniversary.

I am a Michael Graves fan. Before the legendary architect and designer died in 2015 at age 80, I’d interviewed him twice. I’ve long admired his human touch.

“Whether creating a city plaza or a tea kettle, what Michael cared most about was how humans interacted with everything,” said Donald Strum, MGA&D principal and head of product design who worked alongside the architect for more than 30 years.

Strum led the U.S. Open court furniture project, and played out his mentor’s philosophy on center court.

Strum learned last December that his firm had won the commission. “We were excited, then we realized we had to pull it all off in just nine months,” he said.

In just nine months, the design team created an iconic look for the event’s 50th anniversary, which included a new umpire tower, modernized player and line umpire chairs, and a cooler corral, to reduce visual clutter, improve the site lines and better organize the players’ drinks, snacks and ball bags. All the new furniture was in place when the matches began Aug. 27.

“It was a high-pressure, high-profile project, the kind Michael lived for,” said Strum

I grilled Strum about the creative design process, and how to create something from nothing:
The new player chairs are made of lightweight, perforated aluminum, so they breathe, (Photo courtesy of MGA&D)

When creating something from scratch, where do you start?

“With a good understanding,” said Strum. “The USTA asked us to submit a sketch up front, a hint of what the new look could be, but we declined. If we were to develop a sketch, we’d be doing it blindly.

Instead, they started by talking to everyone involved: players, officials, judges, line umpires, fans and sponsors. They learned, for instance, that the cotton canvas director chairs that the players and line umpires had been sitting on all these years held onto the sweat and the wet. Ick. The new ones are made of lightweight aluminum. They are perforated so they vent, and are painted with reflective paint so they stay dry and cool.

They found that the tall umpire stand, last updated in 1997, was treacherous to climb, and didn’t accommodate today’s technology. The new ones do, and angle up to make access easier.

They also learned that fans in some of the most expensive front row seats had drink coolers blocking their views. Not anymore.

How did you go from problem defined to problem solved?

“…We looked at what this tournament represented and to New York — its skyscrapers, Central Park, the fire escapes on the backs of buildings. Then we began sketching. We produced hundreds of sketches.”

The players’ S-shaped chairs rest on forms that echo benches in Central Park. The umpire tower mimics the city’s skyscrapers, and tapers as it rises to appear taller.